Flicker
by Lyn Black
Summary: Willow casts a spell (surprise!) that makes Spike seem different. What does it have to do with a town in Europe thats been deserted for hundreds of years? *FINISHED 2-12*
1. Chapter One

DC: I don't own any of the Buffy characters or the Scoobies. I might own the plot, but that's probably it.  
  
Spoilers: None, except that Buffy's seeing Spike. Probably early season 6.  
  
Summary: A misdirected spell makes Spike seems different. What does it have to do with a town in Europe that's been deserted for hundreds of years?  
  
  
  
  
  
Buffy walked home in revered silence, welcoming thoughts of her boyfriend. She was at ease, knowing that her friends knew about her relationship with Spike.  
  
"Hey Buff," Willow said, as she pulled some white candlesticks out of a drawer in the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, Will," she said, dreamily.  
  
"There's a storm coming in, and I can't find any matches. Did you hide them anywhere?" Willow asked.  
  
"No, why would you think that?"  
  
"Oh, just that last time we couldn't find them, they were in your room."  
  
"We'll you can check yourself, 'cause I know they're not here. I took them to Spike's."  
  
"Okay," Willow said, absentmindedly, stuffing candlesticks into brightly polished holders.  
  
"Can you hand me my spellbook? The one on the table?" Willow asked after thinking for a moment.  
  
Buffy did as she was told and handed Willow the book. She rifled through it for a minute, searching for something. Tara walked down the stairs.  
  
"The windows are all closed. Anything else?" Tara asked.  
  
"Yeah. When there's a bad storm, you need to put a bucket in the corner of the basement bathroom by the sink. Bad leakage the realter forgot to tell Mom about."  
  
Tara did as she was told and returned to the room.  
  
"Whaddya looking for, Baby?" Tara asked Willow.  
  
"That candle lighting spell. The one that went something like 'flisa mariosa' or something like that," Willow said.  
  
"Oh, you mean 'flicasa marisa'?" Just as she said it, one of the taper candles flickered and a small flame emerged from the once cool wick.  
  
"Thanks Baby," Willow said. "Flicasa marisa!" she chanted. There was a rustling at the back door inside the kitchen as Spike emerged in his trademark duster.  
  
"Flicasa marisa!" she said one last time as Spike walked into the dining room. The air chilled as he looked around, as if he didn't know where he was. He took a look at Buffy, who was holding a stake that she had pulled out of a drawer.  
  
Spike jumped around and left, conspicuously.  
  
"What was that all about?" Willow asked.  
  
"I dunno," Buffy said and followed her boyfriend out the door.  
  
"Hey Spike!" she called out the back door.  
  
He turned around and saw her suprised face.  
  
"Well, are you gonna tell me what that was just about or what?" she demanded. His fists clenched, he slowly walked back up to her on the porch and took a swing at her. She darted her head to her left, out of his aim.  
  
"Get the hell out of here!" she bellowed. Spike clenched his fists again, and thought the better of it, turning his back to the slayer and jogging out of her back yard.  
  
"There's something going on with that guy," she wondered to herself.  
  
  
  
AN: Short, I know, but I need to stretch the story out a little bit. Review, or I'll sic the newly-weirded Spike on ya! 


	2. Chapter Two

DC: Same as last time. I don't own Buffy or her friends.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Well, that was weird," Buffy remarked, shutting her bedroom door behind her with the cordless phone.  
  
"Hi Dad," she said into the phone.  
  
"Everything's fine, just wanted to say hi. Hope you're okay. Love ya, 'bye!"  
  
She pressed the button to turn it off.  
  
"I'm going out! Anyone wanna join me?" she asked, walking down the stairs and throwing on her leather jacket.  
  
"I'll go," volunteered Tara. She stared at Willow. Willow gave her a look of indifference, and Tara grabbed her jacket, throwing a stake in her pocket.  
  
"I have to stop by Giles' place. Weekly reporting and all," Buffy commented.  
  
"No problem," Tara said as the two of them turned the corner to Giles' apartment.  
  
"Good, you're here," Giles said, stepping aside from the door to let them in.  
  
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.  
  
"N...nothing. What makes you think something's wrong?" Giles asked.  
  
"Well, for starters, you're shaking," Buffy pointed out. Giles grabbed his left hand in his right to minimize the shaking on the end of the table his hand was resting on.  
  
"Point taken, but no, there's nothing wrong-" a bolt of lightning flashed across the window, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Giles jumped suddenly, falling back into his chair.  
  
"So you're afraid of the storm?" Tara asked, timidly.  
  
"In a way, yes," he muttered, pouring a glass of brandy from an already half emptied bottle, his hand shaking as he put the crystal stopper back on.  
  
"You don't have to patrol tonight, Buffy. The weather's supposed to be stormy all night, and there's going to be a tremedous amount of precipitation-" he was interrupted.  
  
"Don't sweat it, you can stay over at our house. Besides, Xander'll probably be there too," Buffy said.  
  
"What about Spike?"  
  
"He's acting kinda weird, so I think a week of the silent treatment and no Dawn visits should do the trick," she explained.  
  
"What kind of weird?" Giles inquired.  
  
"Oh, nothing. He came over and walked right out," she rushed, turning around to the television set, which was blaring the news.  
  
"Well, lets just go before the storm gets too strong."  
  
***********  
  
Spike's POV  
  
"I dunno Lyn, it's weird," I explained.  
  
"Spike, you've been weird since you Sired me for crying out loud," said the tall blonde in the corner of the crypt, wearing leather pants and a matching top.  
  
I stared her down.  
  
"Whaddya mean 'weird'?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing..." she said, turning to go to the spare room downstairs.  
  
"Come on, we've been friends since we were children, tell me," I urged.  
  
"Come on yourself. You're the one who wanted to Sire before that Drusilla- something-or-other got into feeding off your family."  
  
"Just because we've been together since I was Sired, doesn't mean that-"  
  
"Mean what?" Lyn hinted, turning back to me.  
  
"I don't know why you even came over, Lyn, if you were just going to torment me," I told her.  
  
"I never get to see my best friend anymore, ever since you moved back here. I haven't found anyone I wanna Sire yet, so I'll just bug you until I find someone."  
  
"I can't believe it's been over a hundred years, and you've yet to Sire someone yet," I wondered out loud.  
  
"You know I'm picky," she said, slyly.  
  
"Well, this kinda 'weird' is different," I told her, trying to stay on the subject.  
  
"What kinda weird?" she asked.  
  
"I dunno, it's strange, one minute I'm indifferent, walking into Buffy's house, the next I'm wondering why I'm there."  
  
"So you mean you're the one who's changing? I dunno Spike, you look almost exactly the way you did when you were alive, but now, you're glowing or something," Lyn observed, circling me.  
  
"Effulgent," I muttered.  
  
"What was that?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing, just that I feel different. I'm getting impulses, impulses the chip can't even control. And there's something going on in my heart that I haven't felt in the longest time."  
  
"You want to feed?" she asked.  
  
"It's not like that. I'm having different impulses. Ones that make me feel like killing for the sport of it. And to top it off, I don't have the same bloodlust I used to have."  
  
"So you mean, you actually want to kill?" she thought out loud. 


	3. Chapter Three

DC: I don't own anything but Lyn and this current plot.  
  
  
  
"Thank you for having me-" Giles started as a big clap of lightning struck, illuminating the living room and making him jump out of his seat.  
  
"Chill Giles, you're fine here," Willow said, pouring him a cup of hot tea from the pot on the coffee table for him.  
  
"Did your Mum happen to leave anything hard in the house?" he asked.  
  
"Check in the cupboard above the refridgerator. I haven't touched the stuff really since the last time I got drunk," Buffy answered. Giles stood up and left the room.  
  
There was a knock at the door. Dawn answered it.  
  
"Come on in, Xander," she said, opening the door for him.  
  
"Weird, major," he said, taking off his black raincoat and doing the same for Anya.  
  
"Whaddya mean 'weird'?" Dawn asked.  
  
"I just saw Spike on the way over here. He was standing over a dead body!" he explained.  
  
"Spike? But he couldn't hurt anything with that chip in his head-could he?" Buffy asked Giles.  
  
"I sure as Bloody Hell don't know!" Giles said, tipping a large glass of what appeared to be brandy.  
  
"I think that's enough for now," Tara said, taking the glass from him.  
  
"Whaddya do that for?" he asked. Without an answer, he shook his head.  
  
"Spike can't hurt anyone. The Initiative made sure of that," he said, sobering up.  
  
"Well then why was he standing over some guy with a bloody knife in his hand?" Anya asked.  
  
"Spikes' chip won't let him hurt anyone. Riley explained it all to me," Buffy said, defending him.  
  
"Well, you'd better go check it out before someone starts asking questions," Xander said.  
  
"Where was he?" Buffy asked.  
  
"We drove past Restfield, 'cause we thought you were there, and he was there."  
  
"Wanna drive me?"  
  
***********  
  
"Well, I don't see anythi-" Buffy was caught short. Lying in front of her, sprawled out on a grave stone, was the form of a young woman, probably in her early twenties, with her throat slashed from ear to ear.  
  
"I think I know what you're talking about," Buffy said solemnly. "If she's still here in the morning, we'll call the cops." With that, she dissapeared into Xander's car. Xander took a long look around and followed her.  
  
"Do ya think Spike had something to do with it?" Xander asked when they got back on the main road.  
  
"I don't know. I honestly don't know."  
  
***********  
  
"Did you notice anything odd about him when he stopped by tonight?" Giles asked.  
  
"No," Buffy said quickly.  
  
"Well, what exactly were you all doing about the time he got here?"  
  
"Lighting candles," Willow said, romantically, looking at Tara.  
  
"I don't see how that's gonna help," Giles shook his head. "Give me a blow- by-blow account of the five minutes before he got here, until he left."  
  
"Buffy just got back from Spike's and we were lighting candles. I remember, 'cause I had to put that bucket in the basement."  
  
"Did he act normally when you were lighting the candles?" Giles asked.  
  
"Actually it was right after we lit the last one," Willow pointed out. "What was that spell we used again, Baby? 'Flisa mariosa'?"  
  
" 'Flicasa marisa'?" Just then, a candle that had been blown out re-lit itself.  
  
"If I've told you once, I've told you twice. 'Don't do spells around the Undead'." Giles shook his head again.  
  
Willow thought for a moment. "Hey, you never told me that!"  
  
"It's common knowledge that you shouldn't use even the simplest of spells around vampires. You and I both know what could happen."  
  
"Well, we were doing it before he came in, so we weren't expecting him. So there!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Enough of this. Where is your spellbook, Willow. I need to read up on this 'fluxa mikasa' or whatever it is," he took off his glasses and started cleaning them with a handkerchief that was in his pocket.  
  
Willow emerged from the living room with the book and handed it to Giles.  
  
"Hopefully we won't have to go any further than this," he said, opening it to an index of candle spells.  
  
"Here it is, 'flicasa-' well, you know. 'Flicasa marisa was first used during the early seventeenth century in a tiny village outside of London called Malrisa Cove. As far back as it was first found, the first wiccan to use it is unknown, due to a large group of vampires who fed off of every known inhabitant of the town soon after the spell was created. Little is known about the reason for the sudden conquest of the once was peaceful town.' Well that isn't really helping us," he muttered.  
  
"But what would that have to do with Spike being weird and all?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Malrisa Cove. I think I've heard of that town. It was mentioned in a couple of Watcher's diaries from around that time period. I've got a couple of the diaries at home that mention it, I think, but if not, I'm sure the Council won't mind faxing a copy or something," Giles said, unknowingly ignoring Buffy.  
  
"Xander, would you mind giving me a quick lift? I believe I still may be a little woozy from that brandy earlier."  
  
Xander rolled his eyes, but grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter, grabbing his rain jacket on the way out. Giles followed him.  
  
"You'd better be chipping in for gas, you know," Xander pointed out. "We'll be right back!" 


	4. Chapter Four

DC: I don't own anything but Lyn Black and possibly this current plot.  
  
  
  
"I don't get it, Lyn. I actually wanted to kill that girl. I wasn't hungry, so I actually killed her!" I said, pacing around the crypt.  
  
"Spike, are you sure there's nothing wrong with you?" Lyn asked.  
  
"You mean, besides being dead for the past two hundred years? Never felt better," I told her.  
  
"I mean, really," Lyn stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder. As suddenly as she did it, she jumped away.  
  
"You're warm!"  
  
  
  
***********  
  
"Here they are," Giles mumbled, taking an old tattered journal out of his filing cabinet.  
  
" 'The Watcher's Diary of Desmond McTierney, Watcher to Lauren Michaels, 1704-1706. Wow Giles, you really weren't kidding when you said Slayers don't live long," Xander read.  
  
"Desmond McTierney had three Slayers that he trained. He was down for a fourth, but the vampire that killed this Lauren Michaels, killed him. He was Sired, and wasn't slain until 1905," Giles added. "And here's another that mentions it."  
  
" 'The Watcher's Diary of Thomas Harris, Watcher to Elizabeth Haliwell, 1703-1706. I'm seeing a pattern here? And not only with the dates?"  
  
"Here's another for 1704-1706, and I believe he's a distant ancestor," Giles said, handing Xander another.  
  
"All of these Slayers and Watchers died during the Malrisa Cove incident, if I'm not mistaken. I think there's one more..." he trailed.  
  
"They called in four Slayers to one little town?" Xander asked.  
  
"Every inhabitant died from vampires. The council scoured the town for days to make sure all of the vampires were dusted, but they never found any in the end. Oh, here it is," Giles pulled out a very thin journal. "Pity, this one just finished her training and was sent on her first assignment."  
  
"If it's so short, do you think we should show it to Buffy?" Xander wondered aloud.  
  
"Perhaps you're right. She is known to be very temperamental to the subject. But don't you think we should read it first? Even if Buffy won't, it'll probably say something."  
  
"Go ahead," Xander agreed.  
  
"It's all of the normal Watcher things: training excercises, slaying and what nots," Giles was silent for a moment, scanning the short pages.  
  
"Here's the Malrisa Cove incident. 'Caroline was sent to Malrisa Cove today. I am to follow tonight. There has been a mass amount of casualties from the town's known vampires and she was sent along with three other Slayers by the council: Lauren Michaels, Elizabeth Haliwell, and Callette Janson. I do believe they did not give us enough time for her to train, but the council reigns supreme.' Now he's talking about the traveling to the Cove. 'Caroline is adjusting to her new environment well. She has befriended her fellow Slayer Lauren Michaels, and has found a small nest of vampires outside of the sleepy town. The cause of the vampire's uprising is yet to be known, but I assume it will be found in several days time.' His writing ends here."  
  
"But what's that?" Xander asked, turning the page and taking the book.  
  
"My Watcher, Alexander DeWitt, was killed in the massive uprising of the Malrisa Cove vampires. His memory will live on, but I too will be one to join the deaths of this tiny town. I noticed something in a vampire today, and I hope it may come of some assistance to the council on this matter. The Malrisa Cove vampires are no longer among the Undead, due to a Wiccan coven creating spells in the area. The spell in question 'flicasa marisa', seems to have created a new enlightenment in these vampires lives. Not only does the spell ignite fires and candles as intended, vampires who walk in the vicinity of the spell develop similar tendancies. It is if there is something flickering in their very hearts, igniting their souls. With this flicker, they come alive as they once were before their Siring. The question of dealing with these vampires is not of that; it is of dealing with humans with defunct souls, not of slaying vampires."  
  
"This clears up a lot of things," Giles said, cleaning his glasses. "We ought to show Buffy this one now."  
  
***********  
  
"Buffy, we've figured it out!" Giles announced, storming into the Summers home.  
  
"Figured out exactly... what?" she said, sarcastically.  
  
"This is not a time for joking, Buffy. The Spike problem, of course. You see, we were planning on leaving this one home, but decided to read it before we left, just in case. Spike is no longer a vampire! He has joined the living, but with a price: the soul he received isn't a good one, so to speak. He is alive, but his morality was not spared!"  
  
"So I'm dealing with William, not Spike. Gee, and I thought his homicidal tendancies only came on as a vamp..." Buffy trailed.  
  
"This is something I've never trained you for, Buffy, and I never expected I'd have to."  
  
"How are we going to fix the problem this time?" she asked.  
  
"He needs to be re-Sired by someone in his direct line, but I don't know how much you want to bring Drucilla back into town-"  
  
"Angel. Spike's decended by Drucilla, decended from Angelus. My guess is that Angel is as close to Angelus as we're going to get," Willow said, joining the conversation.  
  
"I'll call Angel and see if he can come out tonight or tomorrow. If he can't come tonight, I'll bring Spike over here and we'll lock him up somehow. Willow, do you have any of Oz's chains or anything like that?" Buffy asked.  
  
"No, but I think we could lock him up at Willy's. Would that help? Tara and I'll go ahead and tell him, while you get him there. That's the only place that'll hold him without asking too many questions. Besides, if he's human, we can anyways."  
  
"Okay, just let me call Angel. I'll see you at Willy's in the morning. Knowing Spike, it'll take awhile for him to come with me."  
  
***********  
  
"Giles, Angel's going to be at Willy's tonight. I'm going to get Spike, okay?"  
  
"I'll take Dawn out for your routine slaying, if that's okay," he said.  
  
"Fine, but stay away from Restfield, okay? I don't want you guys in Spike's line of fire."  
  
  
  
An hour later, Buffy was at the cemetary, starting to go inside Spike's crypt.  
  
"Spike?" she called out loud.  
  
"You know Spike?" a soft spoken voice asked from the corner.  
  
"And you would be...?"  
  
"Lyn... Lyn Black. I'm a friend of Spike's from England. And you?" the tall blonde asked, stepping out of the shadows to reveal herself.  
  
"Buffy, his girlfriend."  
  
"Oh, Spike told me about you-"  
  
"How could you be friends with Spike?" Buffy enquired.  
  
"We were friends before he was Sired. He thought that Drucilla would act the same that Angelus did to her, so he wanted at least one of his friends around. Don't worry, I'm harmless."  
  
"Harmless how, may I ask?" Buffy wondered.  
  
"I was captured by a band of gypsies about a year after my Siring and they Bound my soul. They were going to do it to Spike, but he escaped. Convinced them that I was safe enough to let go, and they did."  
  
"You're saying exactly what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"If I wanted to, I could shag all I wanted and still have my soul. Is that enough information?"  
  
"Fine. I just need to know where I could find Spike," Buffy said.  
  
"Spike's out. Ever since I came to visit, he's been really weird, leaving me alone here in his crypt while he goes out."  
  
"Define 'weird'."  
  
"He's got the same mannerisms he used to have before his Siring. He's warm now-I felt it. It's not customary for one of us to be warm, you know," Lyn said, shaking her head.  
  
"Well, I need to find him before he kills someone else. Did he tell you anything?"  
  
"I can show you, but I can't tell you. It's really hard to explain." 


	5. Chapter Five

DC: I don't own Buffy and Co., but I do own Lyn. Well, that's about it...  
"Here we are," Lyn said, indicating a secluded grave inside Restfield Cemetary. "Who's Joyce Summers?"  
  
"My mother. He's been coming to my mother's grave?" Buffy said, stopping short a few feet from the tiny gate entrance.  
  
"He just sits there, thinking a lot."  
  
Just as she spoke, Spike came into view, sitting on the ground by the headstone, clutching his knees to his chin, deep in thought.  
  
"Spike," Buffy said softly. Lyn stepped back as Buffy stepped towards Spike.  
  
"Buffy," he whispered. "Shhh... your mother's finishing a thought."  
  
Buffy quieted and haulted as she sat down next to him.  
  
"What's she saying?"  
  
"That she misses you and Dawn more than life itself. That she wishes that you weren't the one to have found her," he said, softly.  
  
"She talks to you?"  
  
"Just for the past night or so. I've been coming here off and on since she died. The one place I've been accepted."  
  
"I know Xander hasn't done much to help in that category," Buffy commented.  
  
"Shhh..." Spike muttered, listening intently.  
  
"She says I have to go with you, that it's important. The feelings I've been having the past day have something to do with it," he whispered into Buffy's ear.  
  
Buffy stood up. "Want to come with me to Willy's?" she asked.  
  
"Just give me a minute. Your mum says it's the last time she's going to talk to me." Spike's grip on his knees tightened, then loosened again. He stood up, silently.  
  
"Willy's sounds good to me, Slayer," he said, smiling. "Want to join us, Lyn?"  
  
Lyn followed Buffy and Spike as they crossed the cemetary in silence.  
  
***********  
  
"I think they're coming!" Xander whispered loudly. Willow slapped his arm.  
  
"Shhh!" she whispered, keeping her ear to the door. Giles stood in the rafters, ready to drop the net.  
  
Buffy opened the door and stepped aside for her guests. She and Lyn stepped to the right quickly, leaving Spike in the aim for Giles. With a crash, it fell, covering him.  
  
"Now, Buffy!" Giles said. Lyn and Buffy each took an end of the Spike bundle (AN: That sounds kinda cool...), dragging him into the back room. With a quick heave, they threw Spike in the cage to await his Siring.  
  
"What in the bloody hell is this about?" he demanded.  
  
"Angel's going to be here in a minute-" Willow started.  
  
"What's Soul Boy have to do with me being hog tied and thrown into a cage?" he vociferated angrily.  
  
"No pun intended, hmmm?" Xander asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Spike asked.  
  
"Well, you seem to have a soul today," Xander said, laughingly.  
  
"A soul? Will someone please explain to me why everyone says I'm related to Soul Boy?"  
  
"Flicasa marisa," a candle on the shelf by the door ignited, "gave you a bad soul and made you... well... technically you're alive," Willow said. "And technically... it's my fault."  
  
"Whaddya do this time Red?" Spike shook his head.  
  
"Angel's got to re-Sire you so you're back to normal," Xander said. "And we're all looking forward to that," he muttered to himself. Buffy glared at him.  
  
"Who's Angel-wait, I remember. Never mind," Lyn said, sheepishly.  
  
"Known to you as Angelus, I presume?" Giles asked. Lyn nodded her head. Just as his name was spoken, he stepped through the door.  
  
"I'd like to do formalities, but give me a minute go get him back to normal, first," Angel said, shooing everyone out the door. "Lyn, what are you doing here?"  
  
"I thought I was visiting," she shrugged. Angel shrugged it off himself, and indicated the door.  
  
***********  
  
"Riley's going to be here tomorrow with the stuff for the chip," Buffy told Lyn.  
  
"So he'll be back to normal?" she asked.  
  
"If all goes well."  
  
Riley, Sam, and a few men from the Initiative stepped into the makeshift operating room and shooed everyone out again.  
  
"Sorry we're early, but we were in town chasing some hostiles anyways," he explained. The men got to work as Riley and Sam introduced themselves to Lyn.  
  
***********  
  
"He'll be kinda groggy for a few hours, but by tomorrow, he'll be fine," Sam assured Buffy and Lyn.  
  
"Sorry we can't stay and chat, but there's some vamps with our names on 'em," Riley said, taking his camouflage duffel bag. "Oh, and try to stay away from him until tomorrow. Put a cup of pig's blood in his cage and he'll be fine."  
  
They said their goodbyes and left.  
  
"That was quick," Lyn commented, tucking her hair behind her ear.  
EPULOGUE: TWO DAYS LATER  
"I'm sorry I can't stay longer, but I need to get back to London," Lyn said. "My flight's in half an hour."  
  
"Well, what does one say to their boyfriend's best friend from childhood? 'See ya later, chum'? 'Sianara'?,' Buffy wondered.  
  
"A simple 'goodbye' is fine. I'm not picky," Lyn said, taking her backpack. "Ready Spike?" Spike stepped in with a small suitcase.  
  
"You going somewhere?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Just taking Lyn home. Thought I'd see my parent's graves. Haven't seen them in fifty years."  
  
"Take it easy, okay?" she said, as they kissed softly.  
  
"I'll be fine. In fact, I'll be back in three days, tops," he said as they stepped out of the Summers house.  
  
"There's another storm coming in, Buffy," Tara said, quietly.  
  
DUM DUM DUM... 


End file.
